Railway-track



(No Model.)

W. R. SMITH. RAILWAY TRACK.

Patented Junej30, 1896.

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ANDREW E.GRAHAM. PHOTOUTHO WASHINGTON] C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

W'ILLIAM B. SMITH, OF COYINGTON, KENTUCKY.

RAILWAY-TRAC K.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 563,085, dated June 30,1896.

Application filed January 13, 1896. Serial No. 575,271. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Covington, in the county of Kenton and State of Kentucky,have invented certain new and useful Improvemen ts in Railway-Tracks andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, reference being had to the annexeddrawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to those railways whose tracks are supported uponmetallic cross-ties, and my improvement comprises a novel combination ofchair, dovetail clamps, rail-head braces, and non-circular bolts, forsecuring the rails immovably to the ties, and without employing thecustomary complicated and expensive system of fish-plates, bolts, nuts,and spikes for this purpose; the details of construction beinghereinaftermore fully described, and then pointed out in the claims.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of one end. ofthe preferred form of cross-tie used in mypresent construction ofrailway-track. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of a chair and a pair ofdovetail clamps adapted to be secured within said cross-tie. Figs. 3 and3 are perspective views of a pair of railhead braces to be used inconnection with said chair and clamps. Fig. 4 is a plan showing a chairfitted within a tie. Fig. 5 is another plan, but showing a pair of railssupported upon the chair and held in place by the clamps, a bolt passedthrough the inner clamp, the outer bolt and rail-head braces omitted,and the vertical webs of the rails sectioned. Fig. 6 is a side elevationof the complete arrangement of parts, the rail being sectioned. Figs. 7and 8 are vertical sections of the complete structure taken,respectively, at the lines Y Y and Z Z in Fig. 5. Fig. 9 is an enlargedend elevation of the cross-tie and its attachments. Fig. 10 is a plan ofthe under side of a modified form of the chair.

The cross-tie, which is usually rolled to the desired shape, consists ofa base-plate A of any suitable length, width, and thickness, and has atits sides vertical flanges B B, whose upper edges are cut away at b b,to afford a pair of rail-seats, the extreme end of Said base-platebeing, preferably, bent down The chair 0 is a flat plate, suflicientlylong to fit snugly between the tie-flanges B B, and

having a central rib c, that rests upon the base of said tie, the sidesof said chair being cut away, as more clearly seen in Fig. 4, to aiforda pair of dovetail mortises D E, flanked by lugs cl cl 6 6, havingchannels cl 6 in them.

The chair proper is just as wide as the railseats I) b, and its uppersurface is on a level with said seats, but the lugs are carried upsomewhat higher than said chair, so as to be flush with the top of theside flanges B B. Again, the outer ends of the lugs e c are flush withthe ends of the chair, so as to bear directly against the inner sides ofthese flanges B B, but the other lugs cl (1 are shorter than said lugs e6. Consequently passages F F are formed between the outer ends of thelugs cl d and the inner sides of the tie-flanges B B.

(See Figs. 4 and 5.) Adapted to fit snugly site ends are furnished withkeys or other convenient fasteners k k.

L L are portions of two abutting rails, and the dotted lines Z, in Fig.5, indicate notches in the bases of said rails for the engagement oflugs 1 j, projecting from the under side of the clamps, as representedin Fig. 8. 'i and j are guiding-lugs that confine these clamps tovertical paths while'being inserted within their appropriate mortises.

M, in Fig. 9, is a notch in the bottom of clamp I to admit the point ofa crowbar whenever it is desired to pry said clamp out of the cross-tie.

In assembling the various parts of my improved track, the chair 0 isfirst placed within the tie, in the manner seen in Fig. 4, the lugs cl dof said chair being in line with the outer ends of the rail-seats b I),while the other lugs e e are in line with the inner ends of said seats.The rails L L are now applied to the tie and chair, care being taken tohave the abutting ends of said rails meet at the center of said chair,as represented in Fig. 5.

But no further care is required in laying the rails, because the lengthof the seats b b and the clearance between the opposing lugs d e and d eis just sufiicient to admit the railbases. Therefore, as soon as therails are in position, the clamps I J are'engaged with the side mortisesD E of the chair, and the railhead braces G H are inserted within therespective passages F F". The channels d d e e of the chair, togetherwith the grooves 71 j of the clamps and perforations g h of therail-head braces, are now in line with the holes I) I) Z) I) of thetie-flanges, and the bolts K K being driven through these holes,grooves, and channels, and the keys 701s applied to said bolts, the actof securing the rail in place is completed; but the smaller ends of saidkeys should be bent aside to prevent them working loose. Again, it isadvisable to have the bottom of the grooves *i j slightly above thelower edges of the holes b I) Z) Z), in order that the forcibleinsertion of the bolts may pull the clamps I J down in a very powerfulmanner, and thus cause them to grasp the rail-bases so securely as toprevent any member of the attachment getting out of place. As therailbases now bear against the horizontal flanges b b', it is evidentthe lower portionsof the rails cannot shift toward the end of the tie,neither can the heads of the rail incline outwardly, because said headsare supported by the heavy braces G H, and the latter bear directly uponthethick, vertical sides of said tie. (See Fig. 9.) Therefore it isimpossible for the rails to spread or to work loose from the tie, nomatter how heavy the traffic may be on the road. But if any member ofthe attachment should wear down by constant use the bolts K K can bewithdrawn, to enable the insertion of filling-pieces at suitable places,and then said bolts can be readily restored to their normal positions.

a The above is a description of the most complete form of myrailway-track but it is evident the details of construction may beconsiderably varied, as, for example, by omitting the flanges a and b'b. Again, the lugs 'ij and notches Z may be omitted from all theattachments, except those employed near the abutting ends of two rails.

Fig. 10 shows-a modified form of chair adapted to be used for supportinga switch-rail, the chair being extended laterally at C, and having asecondary, vertical flange c. The function of the inner mortise isperformed, in this chair, by a dovetail slot E, located Where theextension-plate C joins the chair proper, O.

The drawings show the attachments for one end of a tie alone; but thoseat the other end are merely duplicates of said devices and need nospecial description.

hen the tracks are to be laid around a curve,the ties may graduallywiden,from their inner to their outer ends, in which case the outerchairs would be correspondingly longer than the inner ones. Finally,Fig. 9 shows that the base-plate A may be slotted at a, to admit a heavylug N, projecting from the under side of clamp I, a rod 12 being passedthrough said lug to hold it in place. By this arrangement the lug willcoact with the chair in preventing lateral shifting of said clamp.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, in a railway-track, of themetallic cross-tie A, having side flanges B B, provided with rail-seatsb, b, and a pair of non-circular holes b, b"; a chair 0, fitting betweensaid flanges B, B, and having dovetail mortises D, E and channels d, e;grooved clamps I i, J j, engaging with said mortises, and non-circularfasteners K, K, traversing said holes, channels and grooves, in themanner described, and for the purpose stated.

2. The combination, in a railway-track, of the metallic cross-tie A,having side flanges B B, provided with rail-seats Z), Z)", and a pair ofnon-circular holes Z), Z); a chair O, fitting between said flanges B, B,and having dovetail mortises D, E, and channels c e; grooved clamps I,J, en gaging with said mortises 5 railhead braces G,I-I, havinghorizontal ledges g,h, perforations g, h; and non-circular fasteners K,K, that traverse said holes, channels, grooves and perforations, in themanner described, and for the purpose stated.

3. As a new article of manufacture, the railway-chair C,having, at itssides, dovetail mortises D, E, flanked by lugs d, cl, 6, e,which lugsproject above said chair, andare traversed by channels (1, d, e, e", forthe purpose described.

4. The clamps I dovetailed into the lugs d, d, in the manner described,and having a lug N, passing through a slot a, in the tie-base, andsecured by a fastener 72, for the purpose stated.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WVILLIAM B. SMITH. WVitnesses:

JAMES II. LAYMAN, LEO E. KUHLMAN.

